DOJ Sues Apple
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https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/doj-sues-apple-over-iphone-monopoly.html
The Department of Justice sued Apple
on Thursday, saying its iPhone ecosystem is a monopoly that drove its “astronomical valuation” at the expense of consumers, developers and rival phone makers.The lawsuit claims that Apple’s anti-competitive practices extend beyond the iPhone and Apple Watch businesses, citing Apple’s advertising, browser, FaceTime and news offerings.
“Each step in Apple’s course of conduct built and reinforced the moat around its smartphone monopoly,” says the suit, filed by the DOJ and 16 attorneys general in New Jersey federal court.
Apple shares fell over 4% during trading on Thursday.
The Justice Department said in a release that to keep consumers buying iPhones, Apple moved to block cross-platform messaging apps, limited third-party wallet and smartwatch compatibility and disrupted non-App Store programs and cloud-streaming services.
The challenge represents a significant risk to Apple’s walled-garden business model. The company says that complying with regulations costs the company money, could prevent it from introducing new products or services, and could hurt customer demand.
The lawsuit could force Apple to make changes in some of its most valuable businesses: The iPhone, in which Apple reported over $200 billion in sales in 2023, the Apple Watch, part of the company’s $40 billion wearables business, and its profitable services line, which reported $85 billion in revenue.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a press conference the Supreme Court defines monopoly power as “the power to control prices or exclude competition.”
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/doj-sues-apple-over-iphone-monopoly.html
The Department of Justice sued Apple
on Thursday, saying its iPhone ecosystem is a monopoly that drove its “astronomical valuation” at the expense of consumers, developers and rival phone makers.The lawsuit claims that Apple’s anti-competitive practices extend beyond the iPhone and Apple Watch businesses, citing Apple’s advertising, browser, FaceTime and news offerings.
“Each step in Apple’s course of conduct built and reinforced the moat around its smartphone monopoly,” says the suit, filed by the DOJ and 16 attorneys general in New Jersey federal court.
Apple shares fell over 4% during trading on Thursday.
The Justice Department said in a release that to keep consumers buying iPhones, Apple moved to block cross-platform messaging apps, limited third-party wallet and smartwatch compatibility and disrupted non-App Store programs and cloud-streaming services.
The challenge represents a significant risk to Apple’s walled-garden business model. The company says that complying with regulations costs the company money, could prevent it from introducing new products or services, and could hurt customer demand.
The lawsuit could force Apple to make changes in some of its most valuable businesses: The iPhone, in which Apple reported over $200 billion in sales in 2023, the Apple Watch, part of the company’s $40 billion wearables business, and its profitable services line, which reported $85 billion in revenue.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a press conference the Supreme Court defines monopoly power as “the power to control prices or exclude competition.”
@George-K said in DOJ Sues Apple:
The Justice Department said in a release that to keep consumers buying iPhones, Apple moved to block cross-platform messaging apps, limited third-party wallet and smartwatch compatibility and disrupted non-App Store programs and cloud-streaming services.
Well ya
Greed is good
A lot of companies want consumers to buy their stuff.
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@George-K said in DOJ Sues Apple:
The Justice Department said in a release that to keep consumers buying iPhones, Apple moved to block cross-platform messaging apps, limited third-party wallet and smartwatch compatibility and disrupted non-App Store programs and cloud-streaming services.
Well ya
Greed is good
A lot of companies want consumers to buy their stuff.
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All I care about is the consumer’s right to repair. Apple does not recognize that right of the consumer. Although this case does not address that issue, Apple needs its wings clipped.
@Renauda said in DOJ Sues Apple:
All I care about is the consumer’s right to repair.
Agreed. I long for the days when I could pop open a Mac and add whatever I wanted, replace whatever I wanted.
With the arrival of soldered-on RAM, integrated graphics chips, those days are long gone.
But, PC makers, particularly in the laptop arena, are following Apple's example.
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https://9to5mac.com/2024/03/21/apple-watch-android-apple-work/
In its lawsuit, the Department of Justice uses the Apple Watch as a piece of evidence to justify its claim that Apple is a monopoly.
Apple’s smartwatch—Apple Watch—is only compatible with the iPhone. So, if Apple can steer a user towards buying an Apple Watch, it becomes more costly for that user to purchase a different kind of smartphone because doing so requires the user to abandon their costly Apple Watch and purchase a new, Android-compatible smartwatch.
In response to the DOJ’s assertion, Apple confirmed for the first time that it at one point considered Android support for the Apple Watch. After a three-year investigation, Apple says that it determined an Apple Watch with Android support wasn’t doable because of technical limitations. As such, it scrapped the idea.
This aligns with previous reporting from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. In a 2023 report, Gurman detailed Apple’s plans – including some of the “business considerations” – on bringing Apple Watch support to Android.
